Part III: Literature review paper

Part III: Literature review paper<= o:p>

By the end of this assignment, you will have the first 3/5^ths of yo= ur final research report completed. That is, for this assignment, you will write a paper that describes your research through the Methods section with a particular focus on the review of the literature, as discussed in class. =

Using the literature that you have been gathering, you will write the first part = of your research report. This wi= ll include:

· An introduc= tion to the problem/topic (problem statement)

o&nb= sp; Purpose sta= tement

1.&n= bsp; The purpose= of this study is to investigate…

· A review of= the research literature in this area

· Your propos= ed design/methods and expected findings

o&nb= sp; To answer t= he proposed research questions, we will administer a survey…<= /span>

· Conclusion<= o:p>

o&nb= sp; What does t= his research tell us about this problem?

o&nb= sp; How will yo= ur proposed study add to the knowledge about this problem?

Since you have not yet completed your study, this paper will be written in the fo= rm of a proposal. You will write= about what you will be doing when you undertake this study.

The literature review

The advice and guidelines linked here will serve as a useful guide in completing the literature review. In addition, it is remember the following additional guidelines, as discussed in class, when writing a lit review section of a research report.

· Generally speaking, the purpose of the lit review is to “map the known terrain&= #8221; established by previous research in the area of your topic. Therefore, you want to include only discussion of research from peer reviewed articles.

· The lit rev= iew is not the area of your paper in which you posit your own opinions, views, or analyses; rather, here you are simply reporting what has been found by other investigators.

· Do not writ= e a comprehensive review of each research report. Rather, simply report the findings= .

o&nb= sp; Example

§ In a survey= of 500 Midwest women randomly selected from= phone directories of major cities, Smith & Jones (2001) found that the majori= ty of women in marriages or cohabitating relationships feel dissatisfied with = the expectations for housework placed on them by their partners. Seventy percent of respondents in t= his study indicated feeling that the gender roles were unequal and 65% felt resentment toward their partners about this (2001).

o&nb= sp; Notice in t= he above example that the salient findings of the referenced (fictitious) study are reported in only two sentences.

o&nb= sp; Each study included in the Lit Review should follow similarly.